A federal agency is reportedly planning to put Google under federal supervision, making Google accountable to the government for its actions.
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is aiming to put Google under formal federal supervision, according to a Nov. 14 Washington Post report. The Big Tech company could potentially become subject to regular federal inspections and monitoring the likes of which government requires banks to undergo. While this could be the beginning of the end of Google’s monopoly, it could also spell danger for increased government overreach, as Big Tech-Big Government ties have increased and the battle to protect free speech rages on.
“Be suspicious. Be very suspicious,” warned MRC Free Speech America Director Michael Morris. “If there’s one thing Americans should have learned in recent years regarding government involvement with Big Tech, it’s that the government has gone out of its way to eliminate freedoms in the name of safety — and chief among those attacked freedoms, free speech. Google has done enough on its own to censor online speech. To the extent that the CFPB can be helpful at all concerning Google, it should do a deep dive and investigate how Google’s overt bias and censorship has harmed the American public.”
Google has previously fought against the federal supervision, according to The Post, which cited unnamed insiders. The Post predicted “a major legal clash with vast implications for the CFPB’s powers in the digital age.” That is especially true as the agency, like all other federal agencies, is set for new leadership under a Trump administration. The Post noted that CFPB’s specific objections to Google have not been made public, though they apparently relate to Google’s financial services, such as Google Wallet.
The CFPB, formed during the first Obama presidential term, has what The Post called “broad powers to protect consumers from unfair, deceptive or predatory financial practices.” The agency already surveils banks and credit unions, and it supposedly has the power to supervise firms, too, with regulators having potentially direct access to internal company records.
The Post claimed that hundreds of customers have sent complaints to CFPB about Google’s financial services such as Wallet and its previous app Google Pay over the last few years. If CFPB deems that there is a risk for customers, it could place the firm under supervision; and not just Google, but other tech giants that offer financial services as well, such as Amazon, Apple and PayPal.
There is a major red flag for free speech and privacy advocates, however. Google and its YouTube platform have been accused of colluding with the federal government to censor speech in the Murthy v. Missouri lawsuit and to exchange private user data, according to a March 2024 Forbes report. If Google falls under direct CFPB supervision, that could make the government‘s ties to Google even closer, raising concerns about potential censorship — particularly financial censorship — and surveillance activity in future.
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